Google (transitive verb): (1) to search the web, (2) to challenge the old, (3) to make lots of money

Michael Hedges November 7, 2011 Follow on Twitter

From almost every quarter the ins and outs of Google attact attention. Google, of course, was formerly known for its search engine. Then there came advertising, mobile phones and, eventually, television. Every time they enter a new realm the earth shakes.

When YouTube, owned by Google, announced it would be putting fairly serious money into producing original television a palpable twitch came upon television broadcasters. The new channels would feature original productions from show biz glitterati (Madonna, et.al.) as well as mainstay brands including Reuters, Red Bull, Car & Driver and The Onion. Most will be high-niche, like the skateboard channel called Ride. All of the new channels revealed officially are, so far, very American. The list has the not so faint look of a basic cable TV offering without the usual cable TV subscription.

“Wonderful things can happen when cool technology meets great entertainment,” said Google’s new vice president of content partnerships Robert Kyncl in a statement. “Cable television expanded our viewing possibilities from just a handful of channels to hundreds, and brought us some of the most defining media experiences of the last few decades – think MTV, ESPN and CNN. Today, the web is bringing us entertainment from an even wider range of talented producers, and many of the defining channels of the next generation are being born, and watched, on YouTube. The first of these new original channels will appear on YouTube starting next month and will continue over the next year. They’ll be available to you on any internet-connected device, anywhere in the world, with all the interactivity and social features of YouTube built right in.”

“We are massive but we are tiny in the TV space,” said Kyncl, quoted by AdAge (October 17).” That means two things: One, that we are the small guy and we have to behave like the small guy, and two, we have massive upside because the industry is changing and it is moving from a closed to an open system.” Kyncl joined Google last September from Netflix where he pushed video content to every possible internet-connected platform. Previously he worked the Hollywood scene for HBO. He’s considered a very serious guy.

Content producers – Hollywood and beyond – have long had a prickly relationship with Google, grousing that they don’t get a big enough cut of the money. Then there’s that download pirate thing. For some of the new YouTube channel producers the split will be as much as 55% after the cash advance, considered “generous,” reported the LA Times (October 31).

The farther leap of “exploring” the pay cable TV business perhaps in partnerships with Time Warner, the Walt Disney Company or others, reported by the Wall Street Journal (November 4), set a few wheels spinning. Actually, Google is entering the fiber distribution business in Kansas City, which sprawls across the Mississippi River into the American states of Missouri and Kansas. That project, announced officially, is called Google Fiber, which will bring ear splittingly fast broadband to this test market. The Wall Street Journal, it should be noted, is owned by News Corporation, which has a vested interest in the television business and will have its own new YouTube channel.

Also reported was new investment in Google TV, a software solution for IPTV that didn’t exactly set the world on fire. Apple people have been chattering about Apple TV coming, well, soon. The old Google TV – released last year – had trouble exciting anybody with boring content, run of the mill hardware and bland software. Apple is having trouble exciting video content producers about its step into TV land. Cracked code or not, it’s about the money.

When Google co-founder Larry Page was bumped up to CEO, relegating Eric Schmidt to chairman earlier this year, Team Google said it was time to stir up things a bit. The old Google (please, stop laughing) was getting stale. Eric Schmidt was, as oft reported, the adult in the room, gifted dealing with big picture stuff like running a very big company and its international relations. As chairman, he remains in that picture.

Google has pledged US$100 million for original production on the new YouTube channels at a time when television broadcasters continue to recycle reality TV shows and cut expensive production budgets to the bone. More than one television insider has wondered aloud what might happen if Google decided to bid for the world-wide hit cop show CSI or – fire up the resuscitator – major sports rights.

The other big game Google has changed, of course, is the advertising game. The flow of ad revenue has shifted over the course of the last decade; internet advertising rising while print ad revenues drop like a rock. Television advertising – and the demand for it – keeps rising as the tide benefits few others. Mainstream advertising folks view television as the safe and sure sales vehicle, internet advertising being cool, cheap and harder to measure.

For all practical purposes, Google has been the dominant search engine provider world-wide. To google is a verb form. The company has stumbled with new ventures, all failures being virtual in the technology world, but Gmail is a big hit and so, it seems, is the Android smartphone platform. Google’s interrelated television ventures are not simply about new worlds to conquer but the next logical step.

See also in ftm Knowledge

Google Is... Still

Google's leaders say their goal is to change the world. And they have. Far more than a search engine, Google has impact over every media sector and beyond, from consumer behavior to broadcasting and advertising to newspapers. That impact is detailed in this ftm Knowledge file. 84 pages PDF (June 2012)

Order here

Digital Transitions

Media's transition from analogue to digital has opened opportunities and unleashed challenges beyond the imagination. Media is connected and mobile yet fettered by old rules and new economics. Broadcasters and publishers borrow from the past while inventing whole new services. This ftm Knowledge file explores the changes. 88 pages PDF (March 2012)

Order here

Media in Spain - Diverse and Challenged – new

Media in Spain is steeped in tradition. yet challenged by diversity. Publishers hold great influence, broadcasters competing. New media has been slow to rise and business models for all are under stress. Rich in language and culture, Spain's media is reaching into the future and finding more than expected. 123 pages, PDF. January 2018

Order here

The Campaign Is On - Elections and Media

Elections campaigns are big media events. Candidates and issues are presented, analyzed and criticized in broadcast and print. Media is now more of a participant in elections than ever. This ftm Knowledge file reports on news coverage, advertising, endorsements and their effect on democracy at work. 84 pages. PDF (September 2017)

Order here

Fake News, Hate Speech and Propaganda

The institutional threat of fake news, hate speech and propaganda is testing the mettle of those who toil in news media. Those three related evils are not new, by any means, but taken together have put the truth and those reporting it on the back foot. Words matter. This ftm Knowledge file explores that light. 48 pages, PDF (March 2017)

Order here

More ftm Knowledge files here

Become an ftm Individual or Corporate Member to order Knowledge Files at no charge. JOIN HERE!